Democracy, Civil Society and Governance

Ghanshyam Shah is an independent researcher, based in Ahmedabad. He is a retired professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He was earlier a Fellow-in-Residence, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences, Wassenaar; and National Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, and Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi. He was also Director, Centre for Social Studies, Surat, and Dr Ambedkar Chair Professor (1995–1996) at LBS National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago, Illinois; Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi; M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara; and S.G. University, Surat. He has authored/co-authored and edited more than 20 books, including Social Movements in India (1981 and 2004), Protest Movements in Two Indian States (1977), Public Health and Urban Development: The Study of Surat Plague (1997), Untouchability in Rural India (2006), Dalit Identity and Politics (2001), Re-reading Hind Swaraj: Modernity and Subalterns (2012) and Growth or Development: Which Way Is Gujarat Going? (2014). He is a recipient of several academic awards.

• PrefaceIntroductionCivil Society: Historical BackgroundCivil Society Organizations and Social ActivistsCivil Society and Education: Reproducing Hegemony and InequalitySelf-employed Workers and Their EmpowermentLegal Recourse and Collective Struggles of the SubalternsSocial Movements of the Non-poorNarmada Dam: Development and DisplacementEpilogueBibliographyIndex

This is a quintessential book to understand democracy and contemporary Gujarat …. This book emphatically stresses on the role of innumerable groups for effective functioning of democracy. …. The strength of this book is not only in its encompassing analysis and rich chronicles, but also lies in its ability to rekindle the debate which was either forgotten or had settled down.